- Balance sheet for 2018: the Lekkerland Group achieves a good operating result with slightly lower sales
- The specialist for on-the-go consumption concentrates on tailor-made and innovative services
- Important contracts extended and prestigious new customers acquired
Lekkerland created the platform for further positive development in 2018 with important contract extensions, the acquisition of new customers and tailor-made, innovative services for customers. Although sales and the operating result fell back, “this is primarily due to the departure of a large customer in Germany that has now been concluded,” explained Patrick Steppe, Chairman of the Board of Management of Lekkerland AG & Co. KG.
Part of the fall in sales – in concrete terms: 127.1 million euros at Group level – can also be traced back to first-time application of the accounting standard IFRS 15.
“The business year 2018 has exceeded our ambitious expectations and, given the challenges, underwent gratifying progress,” commented Patrick Steppe.
Overview of figures
Over the past year, the Lekkerland Group generated sales of 12.4 billion euros (2017: 12.8 billion euros) and an operating result (EBIT) of 92.7 million euros (2017: 104.3 million euros). Lekkerland is active in seven European countries: Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Spain.
Sales of the Lekkerland Group developed as follows in the individual product ranges: Sales in tobacco goods fell by 3.1 percent to 9.8 billion euros. In the food/non-food product group sales went down by 3.0 percent to 2.5 billion euros, and in the commissions on electronic value (e-va)/miscellaneous segment they were reduced by 6.2 percent to 111.8 million euros.
Important contract extensions and new customers
In 2018, Lekkerland achieved important milestones on the journey towards its vision of becoming “Your most convenient partner” for its customers – the best partner they have. The company is supporting its customers with tailor-made and innovative services in the growth sector of on-the-go consumption. This enables them to be successful over the long term in an environment of intense competition. “We put our customers in the position of being able to provide an optimum response to the desires of consumers and current trends in on-the-go consumption,” said Patrick Steppe.
Last year, a lot of customers placed their trust in this approach by extending their contracts with Lekkerland. They included Westfalen Group in Germany and the Dutch subsidiary of bakery chain backWERK. The most important new customers include the Canadian fast-food chain Tim Hortons, whose complete supply chain in Spain is being managed by Lekkerland subsidiary Conway.
Tailor-made services, digital Solutions
In order to support its customers in benefiting from the growing demand for take-away snacks and beverages, Lekkerland offers them a broad product range, tailor-made logistics solutions and diverse services. Accordingly, four other pilot stores of the Frischwerk shop concept were opened in Germany in 2018. This is a full-service solution in which Lekkerland provides everything from the design, through interior styling to product range selection and marketing of the shop. Last year, Lekkerland introduced snack concepts with focuses on nachos, pizza and wok specialities in the Netherlands.
The opportunities presented by digitalisation play a major role on the route to becoming “Your most convenient partner” for its customers. Consequently, the roll-out of online delivery tracking was launched in Germany in 2018 and this is to be established in other national companies during the course of 2019. With this service Lekkerland informs its customers about the expected delivery time and reports delays.
Furthermore, Lekkerland continues to develop online offers for its customers. Since the end of 2018, a practical order app has been available in Belgium and the Netherlands that synchronises automatically with the webshop. Customers in Austria can place orders on the new platform Lekkerland24, and they are also able to obtain information about concepts and view their purchase orders and invoices.
Outlook: business year 2019
Taking account of the continuing increase in competitive intensity and the challenging framework conditions – including the introduction of Track & Trace in tobacco logistics – Lekkerland once again expects a good operating result for 2019, even if it is moderately below the gratifying result of the previous year.
About the Lekkerland Group
We are the specialist for on-the-go consumption.
Lekkerland is the specialist for on-the-go consumption in seven European countries. Our vision is to be "Your most convenient partner" for our customers – the best partner they have. Lekkerland employs around 4,900 people and services around 91,000 points of sale in seven European countries. Our customers include service stations, kiosks, convenience stores, bakeries, food retailers and quick service restaurants. The Lekkerland Group turned over 12,4 billion euros in the 2018 financial year.
